The Internet can be a helpful tool for your home business, your child’s education, or for just fun and games. It can also be dangerous for you or your child. If you and your children use the Internet at home, the best way to protect everyone is to set up basic Internet safety rules for the home. This will help protect your children from online predators, keep them safe from unwanted emails, and protect their eyes and ears from harmful materials.
Put Your Internet Rules in Writing
If you put your Internet rules in writing and explain them to your child one by one, your child is most likely to take them seriously. Anything in writing can seem more important and permanent to your child.
After writing the rules on paper, make several copies for each member of the family and call a family meeting. Go over the rules with the entire family and be sure everyone understands each rule clearly. Give your children an opportunity to ask questions or to add input during the meeting. The goal of this meeting is to let your children know the seriousness of Internet dangers, how these can harm the entire family, and how your children can be a great help in avoiding these dangers. Let your children know how important they are in keeping the family safe!
Internet Rules to Follow
You should create very basic, easy-to-understand rules. You and your spouse only should worry about the Internet blocks, filters, etc. Your child should only be required to follow rules fit for them.
Rule #1: Computer Location
Start with the location of the computer. Make a rule that the computer remains in an open area of the home where everyone has access to use it or view others using it. Place the computer in a place where you can easily see the entire screen at a glance. Never place a computer with Internet access in your child’s room.
Rule #2: Time Limits for Everyone
Set specific time limits for everyone in the home to use the computer. The Internet can be addictive just like a video game if not controlled. Make sure your child understands that their time spent on the Internet is time away from the family, and you will not allow abuse of that time. Give your child an allotted amount of time online such as thirty minutes or one hour for fun stuff and one hour for homework research when needed. Keep a timer handy so the buzzer will go off when their Internet time is up. This will ensure that their time spent will not be wasted on just "surfing around."
Rule #3: Parent Pre-Approval for all Websites
Another important rule is that you or your spouse must approve beforehand every website your child will visit. You can also use this as an accountability help for yourself and your spouse. One of you can approve the websites for the other as a safety measure. To approve a website, you must open it, click through all or most links at the website, view advertisements that might appear on the website, and be sure there are no "hidden" web pages that might be offensive to your child.
Rule #4: Beware of Online Game Sites
If your child enjoys playing games online, beware of the dangers. Some games have hidden messages or images within the games that can harm your child mentally and emotionally. Also, some websites that appear to be for kids really are not suitable.
Investigate the website and the actual games your child intends on playing. If your child is playing a new game, watch as they play so you will know what content is in the actual game. Tell your child to let you know every time they reach a new level of the game. Some games appear fun and safe on the surface, but get worse as your child reaches new levels.
Rule #5: Never Give Out Personal Information
A very important rule to follow is to never give out personal information, passwords, or anything else by email, chat rooms, message boards, guest books, etc. Make sure your child understands the dangers of this and how online predators are looking for a child that will reveal all this information so they can do harm. Your child should know to never send a photo to a stranger or exchange emails with a stranger.
Rule #6: Agree that Everything Remains Open for the Family
Your child should understand and agree that everything they do online remains open to your scrutiny. You and your spouse can go online to view the history of your child's Internet usage, emails that have been sent or received, and other vital information at any time. Also, if suspicious activity is discovered with your child being at fault, make sure your child understands that the Internet privileges will be taken away for a while.
Rule #7: Research with a Parent
If your child needs to do research for a school project, make a rule that this research is only performed with a parent present. While researching, your child might stumble onto a harmful website unexpectedly. If and when this happens, you will be right there to catch it and deal with it.
Keep these rules in mind for safe home Internet use. Your child's safety is worth the effort!